CSA News

Opioids are flooding into the United States in such vast quantities that President Trump declared a “National Health Emergency” in October 2017. Yet, despite some tales to the contrary, the opioid crisis is literally manufactured in places like Mexico. China, too. In their factories, fentanyl and other copycat drugs are produced in staggering amounts. And they’re decimating us.

Anger and near-revolt were the obvious emotions of physicians a few years ago when the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) made it tougher and more expensive to attain maintenance of certification (MOC).

A California Lawmaker has written a bill to create a government-appointed commission to price-fix physician fees with the intent to control California healthcare costs, improve quality, and increase equity in California’s healthcare system. All objective evidence and experience suggests that government price-fixing of physician fees will accomplish none of those things. Today, I have healthcare economist and President of Fulcrum Strategies, Ron Howrigon, in the studio to analyze this bill and the unintended, and potentially disastrous, consequences to California’s patients, physicians, and hospitals.

Each person experiences pain differently, from an emotional perspective as well as a physical one, and responds to pain differently. That means that physicians like myself need to evaluate patients on an individual basis and find the best way to treat their pain. Today, however, doctors are under pressure to limit costs and prescribe treatments based on standardized guidelines.